New reports on admissions and diversity in the legal profession have been released by the Australian Conference of Law Societies, the Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland (LSRA), the Law Society of Scotland and the Bar Standards Board of England and Wales. Australia The 2020 National Profile of Solicitors in Australia, produced on behalf of…
Law Society of New South Wales welcomes new advocacy service for cognitively impaired users
The Law Society of New South Wales (NSW) has welcomed the NSW Government’s decision to invest $28million in to the Justice Advocacy Service (JAS) and the establishment of a new court-based diversion program for individuals with a cognitive impairment. JAS is a support service provided to victims, witnesses and defendants with a cognitive impairment. The…
Bar Standards Board publishes independent review of 2020 qualifying exams
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has published the results of an independent review of the August 2020 Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) exams, the exams used by the Board as part of the qualification process for barristers. The review was commissioned by the BSB in November 2020 and was conducted by Professor Rebecca Huxley-Binns, the…
ABA study reveals that disabled and LBGTQ+ lawyers face discrimination
A study carried out by the ABA in collaboration with the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University has found that lawyers who either identify as having disabilities or who identify as LGBTQ+ commonly report experiencing both subtle and overt forms of discrimination at their workplaces. The study surveyed 3,590 lawyers, including individuals from every state…
SRA report on disability in the workplace reveals disparity with overall population
Research released by the SRA has highlighted unwillingness amongst legal professionals with a disability to inform their employer of their situation. This, in turn, suggests that firms may not be doing enough to facilitate working conditions that are conducive to working with a disability. The report finds that 3% of solicitors report as having a…